FEBRUARY 13TH, 1947
firebrand Development
ON this page are photographs of sixversions of the Blackburn Firebrand,
initially designed as a Sabre-poweredfighter for th-e Royal Navy, and now.
with Centaurus engine, the standardsingle-seat strike aircraft of that Service.
Development has culminated in theMark V, and Firebrand IVs now in
service are being modified to Mk. V stan-dard. The main differences between the
two Marks are the fitting on the Mk. Vof a horn-balanced elevator and new-
aileron tabs of longer span. For theseimprovements Mr. W. S. Farren, C.B..
M.B.E., M.A., F.R.S., M.I.Mech.E.,F.R.Ae.A., Blackburn's technical direc-
or, has been largely responsible. Pro- •nal Approval has been given for a
weight of 17,500 lb and detail im-provements have been made, includ-
ing the fitting of an automatic" window " distributor, alterations to the
RATOG jettisoning gear and the adop-tion of a negative-g oil tank. Minor
alterations have been made to the airintake in the port leading-edge. Ap-
proval has been given for two 45-gallontanks, or one larger tank, on the torpedo
carrier, as an alternative to which bombsmay be carried as an overload. No
A.S.V. is fitted.
Preceding Firebrand development is ofinterest. The Firebrand Naval fighter
was designed round the Napier Sabreengine, but as production of this unit
was required for Typhoons, and in viewof the fact that the Seafire amply met the
Navy's immediate need for a fighter, itwas decided to redesign for a Bristol Cen-
taurus radial and to develop the Fire-brand as a "strike" aircraft. As a
matter of history the first Firebrand pro-totype flew, without military equipment,
on February 27th, 1942, and the firstF. Mk. I commenced flight trials five
months later.
Equipped as a torpedo-carrier, theT.F. Mk. II, which first flew on March
;ust, 1943, had a slightly greater span.At first the torpedo gear was fixed, but
later the '' two-position'' type wasadopted.
First of the Firebrands to have theBristol Centaurus radial engine, the
T.F. Mk. Ill likewise had the two-position torpedo gear, permitting ade-
quate ground clearance and good high-speed release characteristics. This mode!
flew on December 21st, 1943, but wasfound to be unsatisfactory for deck fly-
ing, as the rudder was too small to givtsufficient control at take-off.
The well-known T.F. Mk. IV, withBristol Centaurus IX (first flight, May
17th, 1945), was really the production"frsion of the Mk. Ill, with larger ver-
bal surfaces and provision for dive-,i brakes. This first flew on May 17th,
I J945.
§-; Hying at a weight of 16,000 lb and
!' carrying a torpedo the Firebrand T.F.
|. Mk. V achieves 342 m.p.h. at 13,000ft;without torpedo 350 m.p.h. is attainable.
With 239 gallons of fuel and using7a per cent power the range is 745 miles.
FIREBRAND FAMILY : Six versionsof the Blackburn Firebrand, some notes
concerning which appear on this page.Reading down, these are the first
prototype, Mk. I series prototype, Mk.- II, Mk. Ill, Mk. IV, and the latest Mk.
V. Note the horn-balanced elevatoron the Mk. V.